Expedia Group

Last updated

Expedia Group, Inc.
Company type Public
ISIN US65248E2037
Industry Travel technology
PredecessorLiberty Expedia Holdings
FoundedOctober 22, 1996;27 years ago (1996-10-22) (as a division of Microsoft)
Founder Rich Barton
Headquarters Seattle, Washington, United States
Key people
Products
RevenueIncrease2.svg US$12.8 billion (2023)
Decrease2.svgUS$1.03 billion (2023)
Increase2.svgUS$688 million (2023)
Total assets Increase2.svgUS$21.6 billion (2023)
Total equity Decrease2.svgUS$2.79 billion (2023)
Number of employees
17,100 (2023)
Website expediagroup.com
Footnotes /references
[1]

Expedia Group, Inc. is an American travel technology company that owns and operates travel fare aggregators and travel metasearch engines, including Expedia, Hotels.com, Vrbo, Travelocity, Hotwire.com, Orbitz, Ebookers, CheapTickets, CarRentals.com, Expedia Cruises, Wotif, and Trivago. [1] Over 3 million lodging facilities and flights on over 500 airlines are bookable on the company's websites. [1] It has 16,500 employees, and its headquarters are located in Seattle, Washington.

Contents

The word "Expedia" is derived from a combination of "exploration" and "speed". [2]

History

Founded as a division of Microsoft in October 1996, [3] Expedia was spun off into a public company in 1999. [4] IAC, known at the time as USA Networks Inc, acquired a controlling interest in the company in 2001 [5] and acquired the remainder of the company in 2003. [6] In August 2005, IAC spun off the company. [7] In December 2011, Expedia, Inc. spun off TripAdvisor. [8]

Management history

In 2003, Rich Barton resigned as CEO and was replaced by Erik Blachford. [9]

In December 2004, Dara Khosrowshahi was announced as CEO. [10]

In March 2017, Chelsea Clinton was named to the board of directors of Expedia, with compensation of $45,000 a year in cash, plus $250,000 a year in stock vesting over three years. [11]

In August 2017, Mark Okerstrom became the President and CEO of Expedia, Inc. [12]

In December 2019, Mark Okerstrom and Alan Pickerill resigned as CEO and CFO, respectively. At that time, Expedia Group's chairman, Barry Diller, took over day-to-day operations, while the Chief Strategy Officer, Eric Hart, became acting CFO. [13]

In February 2020, Expedia announced it was cutting 3,000 jobs, roughly 12% of the workforce, citing a "disappointing 2019." Diller, in his role as acting CEO, stated the company had become "sclerotic and bloated" and that employees were "all life and no work." [14]

In April 2020, Peter Kern was appointed as CEO of Expedia Group. He was the highest paid CEO in the S&P 500 in 2021, with $296 million in total compensation. [15]

Office and headquarters history

In 2015, Expedia announced that it would move its headquarters to the Interbay neighborhood of Seattle, purchasing the Amgen campus on the Elliott Bay waterfront for $228.9 million and investing an additional $900 million on renovation and expansion of the 41-acre (17 ha) campus to 1.23 million square feet (114,000 m2). The first employees moved into the new headquarters in October 2019. [16]

In 2021, Expedia built a new campus in DLF Cyber Park, Gurugram, India. [17]

Acquisition history

DateCompanyBusinessValue (USD)References
March 17, 2000TravelscapeInternet service provider$89,750,000 [18]
March 17, 2001VacationspotInternet service provider$70,850,000 [19]
March 11, 2002Classic Custom Vacations [note 1] Travel agency$78,000,000 [20]
July 11, 2002Metropolitan TravelTravel agency [21]
October 28, 2002Newtrade TechnologiesReservation software [22]
April 5, 2004Activity WorldTravel and touring [23]
April 12, 2004EgenciaTravel agency [24]
July 15, 2008 Venere.com Hotel Booking Engine200,000,000 [25]
October 18, 2010MobiataMobile App Developer [26]
April 27, 2012VIA TravelTravel Management Company [27]
March 12, 2013 trivago GmbH Hotel Metasearch Engine€477,000,000 in cash and stock [28] [29] [30]
May 17, 2013Go Adventure ProTravel Agency$11,600,000 [31]
July 6, 2014 Wotif Travel Agency$657,000,000 [32]
October 10, 2014The Ocean AdventuresTravel Agency$10,600,000 [33]
January 14, 2015Around the World Vacation RentalsTravel Agency$12,800,000 [34]
January 23, 2015 Travelocity Travel Agency$280,000,000 [35] [36]
September 17, 2015 Orbitz Travel Agency$1.6 billion [37] [38]
September 28, 2015Mizuho Finances CorpTravel Agency$14,200,000 [39]
November 4, 2015 HomeAway Holiday Rental Service$3.9 billion [40] [41]
October 25, 2018PillowShort-Term Rental Management [42]
October 25, 2018ApartmentJetShort-Term Rental Management [43]
August 22, 2019 CanadaStays Holiday Rental Service [44]

In July 2015, Expedia made an investment in Wingz. [45]

Divestitures

DateAcquirerTarget companyValue (USD)References
April 10, 2005EviivoRezOvation and WebervationsUnknown [46]
March 1, 2021Najafi CompaniesClassic VacationsUnknown [47]
November 2, 2021 American Express Global Business Travel EgenciaUnknown [48] [49]

Delays in refunds of flights cancelled due to COVID-19

In 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic, customers complained regarding the process to get refunds for cancelled flights. Customers complained of excessively long call times and being unable to get through to a representative. [50] This led to many lawsuits. [51] [52]

Involvement in Israeli settlements

On February 12, 2020, Expedia Group was included on a list of companies operating in West Bank settlements involved in activities that "raised particular human rights concerns" published by the United Nations Human Rights Council. The company was categorized under "the provision of services and utilities supporting the maintenance and existence of settlements". [53] [54]

False advertising and trademark violation

In August 2016, Buckeye Tree Lodge and Sequoia Village Inn, LLC filed a class-action lawsuit in California accusing the company and its partners of violating trademark rights of numerous independent hotel and motel establishments by running advertising implying that consumers could book reservations for those hotels on Expedia even though Expedia had no relationship with those hotels, in violation of the Lanham Act, and also falsely noting that hotels with which the company had no relationship were "sold out". [55] In April 2021, the lawsuit was settled and the company promised not to engage in false advertising. [56]

Australian false advertising suit

South Carolina sales tax suit

In January 2011, Travelscape, a subsidiary of Expedia Inc. based in the Las Vegas Valley, was ordered to pay $6.3 million in back sales taxes to South Carolina by the South Carolina Supreme Court. Travelscape argued that South Carolina's efforts to tax online retailers located out-of-state violate the Dormant Commerce Clause. In a unanimous ruling, the court determined that, while Travelscape does not have physical facilities in South Carolina, frequent sales trips made by its employees and the fact that the company furnished hotel rooms in the state establish its presence for tax purposes and is sufficient to be required to pay sales tax. [57]

Notes

  1. Classic Custom Vacations was acquired from Global Vacation Group.

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Mark Okerstrom is a Canadian lawyer and technology executive in the hospitality sector. He was the president and CEO of Expedia Group until December 4, 2019 when he resigned over disagreements on strategy with Barry Diller and the Expedia board. Mark then joined as president and COO of Convoy until the company ceased core operations and was sold to Flexport. Isidore, Chris. "Digital Startup Convoy Is Winding Down Its Freight Business". Wall Street Journal.Bishop, Todd. "From 'amazing heights' to sudden shutdown: Read the memo detailing Convoy's collapse". GeekWire.

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